Alleged ringleader in Memphis teacher-testing scheme asks for trial

Rejecting a plea agreement with a possible 10-year sentence, the alleged ringleader of a long-running teacher-testing scheme instead asked for a trial that could lead to spending the rest of his life in prison.

On the day to plead guilty or go to trial, Clarence Mumford, 59, told a federal judge Friday he thought the plea offer from prosecutors was too harsh for his 63-count indictment alleging wire, mail and document fraud and identity theft.

His court-appointed attorney, Coleman Garrett, had urged him to take the government's offer.

"I'm not surprised, but I absolutely do not agree with his decision," Garrett said after the brief hearing. "My clients often rely on a higher power in making these decisions and I can't compete with that ... He said, 'I am all prayed up.' What do I say to that? I say, 'OK. Here we go.'"

U.S. Dist. Judge John Fowlkes set March 25 for a trial that is expected to last several weeks and involve dozens of witnesses.

Mumford, a former Memphis City Schools assistant principal and guidance counselor, was among 18 teachers and others indicted last year for allegedly running a scheme since 1995 in which Mumford charged struggling teachers up to $3,000 to find someone to take certification exams for them.

Federal prosecutors say the scheme involved more than 50 teachers, aspiring teachers and hired test takers from Memphis and Shelby County, Mississippi and Arkansas.

Among those indicted are Mumford's son, Clarence Mumford Jr., and Cedrick Wilson, a football coach at Melrose High School and former NFL Super Bowl winner with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Both have been suspended by Memphis City Schools.

Six defendants have pleaded guilty so far, though none has yet been sentenced.

Mumford was offered a plea agreement in which the government would recommend a sentence of between 111 and 132 months (roughly 9 to 11 years), but he told his lawyer and Fowlkes in court he would rather take his chances in trial.

Garrett: "Do you understand that if you are convicted it is tantamount to a life sentence?"

Mumford: "Yes, sir. My decision is that the government has a right to bring me to justice, but it also has an obligation to punish me fairly. Eight-and-one-half years (10 years minus good behavior credit) is too long a time. There was no violence in the allegations ... I have made this decision solely upon me and my faith."

Garrett said later Mumford thought a two-year sentence was more appropriate because of his cooperation, but that prosecutors wanted his client to give them "a blockbuster" educator to indict, "but we didn't have that."

"He feels he is already being punished by losing job opportunities and he was forced to retire," the attorney said. "He says his life has been destroyed already."

Garrett said later the scheme began as "tutoring and helping and it evolved into a moonlighting opportunity to get supplemental income. He knew it was wrong. He did not know it was illegal and was subjecting him to criminal penalties. Remember, we're talking about a schoolteacher.... I know he did not have a criminal mindset. He did not intend to break the law."

The case involves many thousands of pages of evidence, the attorney said, holding a photocopy of doctored drivers' licenses the hired test takers allegedly used for identification when taking the exams.

Garrett said he will ask a magistrate to appoint a second attorney and an investigator to help him prepare the case for trial and that his defense will be "to make the government prove each and every allegation."